Eagles’ Jason Avant: With replacement refs, guys are going to cheat

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 5, 2012, 6:47 PM EST

AP

Eagles receiver Jason Avant is the latest player to weigh in on the NFL’s labor dispute with the officials, saying that players are going to look for ways to find an edge with the replacement officials working this week’s games.

Avant told CSNPhilly.com that he believes players are going to have some tricks up their sleeves that the replacement refs won’t be ready for.

“There are some things that are going to get called, some things that are not going to be called,” Avant said. “When you go into a game, you know what things you can do to get away with, with these refs that we have. Guys are going to kind of cheat this week.”

Avant also said he sees a contradiction between the NFL’s emphasis on the safety of players and the NFL failing to get a deal done with the officials who are most qualified to properly enforce the rules on player safety.

“I will say this, this league, our commissioner, is all about player safety,” Avant said. “And, with the deal not being done, there’s a definite compromise, kind of an oxymoron, so to speak, when it comes to player safety, with the refs not being there. A lot of guys are kind of concerned about it. That’s a big deal for us, as far as player safety. Around the locker room, everyone talks about it. All the players know about it.”

And all the players know they’ll be dealing with low-level officials this week, officials who won’t see everything.

I agree.. players are going to hold at every opportunity they can and hope the refs dont see them.. so far in pre-season.. a lot of holds went UN-noticed and a lot of them ghost hold calls came out of no where.

First, Jason, learn what the word oxymoron means – it’s not just any contradiction. Second, if what you’re saying is true, the league needs to come down hard on the cheaters with fines and suspensions.

The other refs don’t catch everything, either. You can’t expect any of them to catch EVERYthing. I hope these refs don’t see stuff that DID NOT HAPPEN, like the other refs constantly do because if it did not happen, THEY DID NOT SEE IT HAPPEN.

In addition to holds, I see referees being reticent to call pass interference (both ways) and illegal contact. Note that the NCAA, where most replacements come from (albeit Div 2 and below) does not have an illegal contact rule. Rather, egregious contact after 5 yards gets flagged as defensive holding.

However, linebackers and defensive backs can get away with a lot more contact on wide receivers and TEs before the pass in the NCAA than the NFL.

It’s not that the Patriots are the only team that cheats, but they may be the only team stupid enough to engage is a very specific kind of cheating after the league specifically warned against that very specific kind of cheating. And then claim they didn’t know that’s what the NFL meant. And then negotiate extra money into the coach’s new contract to pay for the fine. And then for their butt-hurt jabroni fans to still be crying about the attention that came with all of that nonsense several years later.

First, Jason, learn what the word oxymoron means – it’s not just any contradiction. Second, if what you’re saying is true, the league needs to come down hard on the cheaters with fines and suspensions.
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You’re misrepresenting what he meant by “cheating.” You’re going to fine and suspend guys for [i]holding and pass interference???[/i]. LOL.

People said there was always holding before, if you tell the refs players are going to cheat it’s not like they can’t watch closely. They can see just as well as normal refs and it’s not like they’re new to football.

Yes, the old refs missed calls. Yes, people still tried to get away with stuff when the old refs were around. But to say that this implies that both new refs and old refs are imperfect and therefore roughly equal is ludicrous. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see that while the old refs missed calls, the new refs miss significantly more and have less control of the game.

I don’t care what they call, as long as they call it consistently. The regular refs didn’t all call the same game anyway. We all know that the players watch to see how the game is being called and try to take advantage. Big deal.

“And then for their butt-hurt jabroni fans to still be crying about the attention that came with all of that nonsense several years later.”

Man first things first Avant is talking about players “cheating” not coaches. It’s not my fault people who hate the Patriots ignore the entire point of what Avant is saying in order to jab them.

Secondly jabroni fans really? Anyways i’ll take the best record in the NFL “ahem” 64-16 with two AFC Championships and the only 16-0 season ever. There’s not too much to whine about. The Patriots were two drops away (Samuel, Welker) from winning two more championships.

Nobody is crying anymore. It’s a story that died long long ago live five years ago. What annoys Patriots fans is that people still bring it up and act like it’s still relevant today.

If the players are so worried about it, pony up half the difference in what the refs and owners are at right now, let the owners pony up the other half. If they wont’ do that, then they aren’t THAT concerned

greenandgold1972 says: “There is no effect on player safety. The refs are there AFTER the play ends, not in the middle of it!”

WRONG. Having competent officials can easily prevent a player from trying something illegal.

somekat says: “If the players are so worried about it, pony up half the difference”

This is just a stupid thing to say. The players aren’t responsible for paying the refs. Should the players have to pay to maintain the field surface as well, since they’re so concerned about playing on a safe field? Should the players have to pay for upkeep on the stadium, to prevent it from collapsing, since they’re so concerned about not being crushed?